Kings Considering Shutting Down DeMarcus Cousins For the Rest of the Season

It’s been a dismal year for the Kings, and DeMarcus Cousins has been the sole bright spot. Boogie is basically the only one doing anything for Sacramento right now—he dropped 39 with 20 rebounds in a 14-point loss to the Pelicans on Friday. But now Cousins is banged up, and the team is considering sitting him out for the rest of the season.

Cousins has been dealing with several nagging injuries—not to mention the psychological trauma of playing for three different coaches in one season on a 26-win team in the Western Conference. According to Michael Wallace of ESPN, we may have seen the last of Cousins for this season.

Kings coach George Karl said Monday that he spoke with Cousins about how they would approach the final weeks of the season. Cousins has been dealing with a calf strain, sore foot and a thigh bruise among other ailments for several weeks.

“We talked when he commented after one game that his body was beat up,” Karl said before the Kings faced the Grizzlies. “I said, ‘Instead of thinking about shutting it down, let’s try to find some days that you can get your body rested.’ We might schedule a piece of our games and (rest Cousins) again. I think Cousins likes to play and I think he’s doing it because he wants to play at a higher efficiency. It gives me an opportunity to experiment a little bit. At home, I’d like to go in and (let Cousins play) every game. But on the road, I might experiment a little bit more.”